453: Resurrecting Arcades: Meet Europe’s Biggest Arcade Importer - The Retro Hour EP453

453: Resurrecting Arcades: Meet Europe’s Biggest Arcade Importer - The Retro Hour EP453

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Chris Blok, the co-owner of Amsterdam’s legendary Blast Galaxy and Europe’s largest arcade importer. Chris takes us on an incredible journey through his life as an arcade enthusiast, from his earliest gaming experiences in the Netherlands to witnessing the boom and decline of arcades. We discuss everything from the challenges of importing and restoring rare machines, to his plans for keeping arcade culture alive and thriving.

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
36:44 - Chris Blok Interview

Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:

Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com

Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs

Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour

We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:

https://theretrohour.com/support/

https://www.patreon.com/retrohour

Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd

Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8

Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour

Show notes:

Analogue 3D: https://tinyurl.com/5277bbe3
SpeedBall Reboot: https://tinyurl.com/4bsywekv
Fable Demake: https://tinyurl.com/3a9t982v
New Mega Drive Evercade Cart: https://tinyurl.com/2s3enynr
Atari Decanter Set: https://tinyurl.com/4upd3nz8

Episoder(500)

498: “Arcade Lessons, Nintendo Secrets, and Omega 6” – Takaya Imamura & Junji Seki - The Retro Hour EP498

498: “Arcade Lessons, Nintendo Secrets, and Omega 6” – Takaya Imamura & Junji Seki - The Retro Hour EP498

This week we hear part two of our chat with Nintendo legend Takaya Imamura and game director Junji Seki. We hear about the creation of Omega 6: The Triangle Stars, blending manga, classic adventure ga...

19 Sep 20251h 5min

497: “We Wanted Ocarina’s Opposite - That’s Why Majora’s Mask Got So Dark” - Takaya Imamura Interview - The Retro Hour EP497

497: “We Wanted Ocarina’s Opposite - That’s Why Majora’s Mask Got So Dark” - Takaya Imamura Interview - The Retro Hour EP497

This week we welcome Nintendo legend Takaya Imamura, the visionary artist behind F-Zero, Star Fox, and Majora’s Mask. We hear some incredible stories from his three decades at Nintendo: from being int...

12 Sep 20251h 25min

496: "The SID Chip Was My First Love” - Jeroen Tel: Maniacs of Noise - The Retro Hour EP496

496: "The SID Chip Was My First Love” - Jeroen Tel: Maniacs of Noise - The Retro Hour EP496

This week we catch up with legendary C64 composer Jeroen Tel of Maniacs of Noise fame. Jeroen takes us back to the early days of programming music directly in machine code, pushing the SID chip to its...

5 Sep 20251h 24min

495: PS1 Demo Discs, Bedroom Coders and FMV Revival - Indie Games That Changed The World - The Retro Hour EP495

495: PS1 Demo Discs, Bedroom Coders and FMV Revival - Indie Games That Changed The World - The Retro Hour EP495

We're joined by games journalist and author Aaron Potter to chat about his new book, 50 Indie Games That Changed the World. From the roots of the Indie scene with the 80's bedroom coders, the revival ...

28 Aug 20251h 26min

494: “Sonic R’s Soundtrack Has a Life of Its Own” - Richard Jacques, The Sound of 90s SEGA - The Retro Hour EP494

494: “Sonic R’s Soundtrack Has a Life of Its Own” - Richard Jacques, The Sound of 90s SEGA - The Retro Hour EP494

This week’s episode comes live from Retromessa 2025 in Norway, where we were joined on stage by legendary video game composer Richard Jacques. From creating music on a ZX Spectrum at age 11 to scoring...

21 Aug 20251h 36min

493: “Flash Games Should Never Have Died” – Alex Johansson, Experimental Game Maker - The Retro Hour EP493

493: “Flash Games Should Never Have Died” – Alex Johansson, Experimental Game Maker - The Retro Hour EP493

This week we are joined by award-winning experimental designer, educator and game maker Alex Johansson of ALYO Games. He is the mind behind wild alt-controller creations like Muppet Boxing, syringe-po...

14 Aug 20251h 33min

492: “My Teacher Said I Wasn’t That Good” – The Story of Worms with Andy Davidson - The Retro Hour EP492

492: “My Teacher Said I Wasn’t That Good” – The Story of Worms with Andy Davidson - The Retro Hour EP492

This week, we chat with Andy Davidson, the creator of the legendary game Worms. Andy shares how a quirky artillery game made on a school Amiga evolved into one of the most recognisable franchises in g...

8 Aug 20251h 40min

491: Croc Was Meant to Be Yoshi - Then It All Changed! - Matt Porter, Argonaut Programmer - The Retro Hour EP491

491: Croc Was Meant to Be Yoshi - Then It All Changed! - Matt Porter, Argonaut Programmer - The Retro Hour EP491

This week we’re joined by Matt Porter, former programmer at Argonaut Software and one of the key developers behind Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. Matt shares inside stories from the development of titles...

1 Aug 20251h 39min

Populært innen Fritid

rss-spartsklubben
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
interiorradet
mil-etter-mil-en-podcast-om-bil
nerdelandslaget
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
jegerpodden
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-avskiltet
rss-jegerpodden
level-backup
0-100-med-broom-mats-og-remi
klokkepodden
villmarksliv
fjellsportpodden
rss-jeg-fikser-vin
grontpodden
kaffeskal-med-hollund-krogh
rss-hestenes-klan
rss-var-forste-kaffe